Story Highlights
* NEW: Democratic aide says Bush trip changes nothing
* Bush to dine with troops at fortified air base; speaks at 12:30 p.m. ET
* Bush to meet with Iraqi prime minister, provincial tribal leaders, U.S. troops
* White House says surprise Iraq visit due to "remarkable turnaround" in Anbar

President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq Monday, shortly before a White House deadline to report to Congress on the U.S. troop increase there.

Air Force One touched down under a blazing sun at Al Asad Air Base, for a six-hour presidential visit to tout a "remarkable turnaround" in the mostly Sunni Anbar province west of Baghdad.

After exiting the aircraft, a line of military officials, including top war commander Gen. David Petraeus, welcomed Bush with smiles, salutes and handshakes in the 115- degree heat.

Bush plans to eat dinner with U.S. troops and to meet with top military commanders, the U.S. ambassador, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and provincial tribal leaders.

Bush has hailed Anbar as a success, citing the U.S. military's alliance with tribal leaders in fighting al Qaeda in Iraq.

The White House denied the trip was a publicity visit ahead of a report about U.S. troop increases in Iraq to be delivered by Petraeus next week in Washington.

Advisers said the trip was so Bush could have face-to-face meetings with al-Maliki and local Sunni leaders in an effort to move them closer toward political reconciliation.

Some U.S. lawmakers have criticized al-Maliki's Shiite-led government for not reconciling with Sunni groups, but Bush has stood by the Iraqi leader and fended off calls for his resignation.

Bush's visit to Iraq "will not change the debate in Washington at all," a Democratic leadership aide told CNN on Monday. Many members of Congress traveled to Iraq themselves in August. Those trips and reports "about the lack of political progress in Iraq mean much more than a surprise visit by the president," the aide said.

After commanders greeted the president on the tarmac, Bush posed for pictures before being driven in a motorcade to a concrete building on base where a Marine gave him a short briefing with about 20 other troops in fatigues.

"Morale? How is morale?" asked Bush.

"Very high, sir," said the unidentified Marine.

The president is scheduled to make remarks from the base at about 12:30 ET.

Far to the south in the Iraqi city of Basra, 500 remaining British troops completed a pullout Monday, a move that Britain said did not represent a major policy shift but a long-planned handover to Iraqi forces.

Monday's visit is Bush's first trip to Iraq outside of Baghdad. The president also traveled to Iraq in 2003 and 2006.

The president will speak to about 750 troops for about 10 or 15 minutes said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, before he continues on to Australia.

Al Asad Air Base dates to the 1970s, when it was used by Iraqi forces loyal to Saddam Hussein. It houses about 10,000 U.S. troops, mostly Marines. The facility was captured in April 2003 by Australian special forces.

Measuring about 17 miles in circumference, the base is located not far from the Euphrates River between Baghdad and the Syrian border, where the Bush administration has said many foreign fighters have crossed into Iraq.

The president stopped in Iraq en route to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney, Australia, and ahead of a September 15 briefing in Washington by Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.

Bush is accompanied on the Iraq visit by Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the newly appointed White House official responsible for coordinating Iraq issues.

Also joining Bush on the Iraq visit are U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen Hadley, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace.

The president was spirited out of the White House late Sunday and driven to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.

Instead of the usual presidential motorcade, only one other car accompanied Bush's limousine from the executive mansion to Andrews in an effort to maintain the subterfuge.
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Sixteen hours before he was scheduled to leave for the Asia summit, Bush boarded Air Force One as it sat in a hanger and the aircraft departed after dark.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said a false schedule released for the news media on Monday was part of the security plan for the trip.